What have I been up to?

These past few days have been a lot of fun in small ways.
On Friday I got a call from my friend, Will, to say that there was a massive swell that had come in and that the waves at Wedge were at 20'+. So off we went to Newport Beach to check them out. These waves were huge and when they hit the earth shook. I don't think I've ever seen waves that big before in person. The beach was lined with onlookers as we watched the craziest of the crazy body surf the waves and get pounded. The life guards were on high alert. It was fun to watch. Then we got some mexican deliciousness on the way home. Ilene (Lisa's mum) arrived home that night from a 17 day mission trip to Rwanda. Was so good to see her and hear about the pre-school they were helping in Rwanda.

Saturday was a bit of a blob day and catch up day with Ilene. In the afternoon I caught up with a friend when we went to get dinner (mexican again...Wahoos is pretty amazing!) and then a movie - The Internship. Was pretty funny with a lot of laugh out loud moments.

Sunday Ilene and I went to church at Saddleback. It's been quite a while since I have been to a service there and so much has changed since I was working there 14 years ago. I doubt I could find my way around the campus. It's so huge with so many new buildings and carparks. It's always an experience when you have to catch a shuttle bus to get from the carpark to the actual church building. Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill church in Seattle was the speaker while Rick Warren is on sabatical. Was a good reminder on what it means to follow Jesus and what being 'born again' really means. One thing I love about the Saddleback auditorium is that there is so many windows and natural light coming in. I like worshipping God when I can at least see some of his creation.
The sun was shining so we decided to take a drive down to Fallbrook (about an hour south) to where Ilene's parents own a couple of houses. She wanted to check them out to make sure they were being looked after as they are rentals. Was a lovely day to drive down the coast with the sun sparkling off the water. The houses both looked spic and span so Ilene was encouraged by that. On the way home we stopped in at the outlet mall and bought a few things each (although you can't buy much when you have to lug it around the world for 4 months...good incentive to save money). Then I got a call from my friend, Will who had just finished surfing and wanted to know what I was up to. So we met up with him at Starbucks and Ilene went on home while Will and I went for a drive to Laguna Beach.
It's a great little beachy town with a lot of upscale shops and restaurants, and a lot of art galleries. We found a more deserted part of the beach and did a bit of adventuring, climbing over rocks and around tide pools. At one stage we got caught in a tiny cove and a large wave came in...no way out in a hurry so we both got soaked up to the knees. Pretty hilarious. Will is a bit of a delicate flower and decided he didn't want to be cold and wet (as he had been in the water all day) so we climbed out and back up to his car for him to get changed into dry jeans. I on the other hand am a tough Aussie so stayed in wet jeans and enjoyed the sunset with freezing cold legs and feet. And then home again where I made myself some dinner.

Today (Monday) was spent running some errands at a few different shops. I met Ilene and her friend at a restaurant for a tasty lunch. On Monday afternoons Ilene has 2 small children come over to give riding lessons to. They are around 4 & 5 years old and the little girl LOVES horses. She even has pink cowboy boots. So cute. Was fun watching the kids fight over who's turn it was to feed Enzo carrots. Tonight I caught up with my good friend Tammy at the Irvine Spectrum. We ate dinner at a vegan restaurant. I figured if I can eat bats in Indonesia, I can give vegan food a whirl. Wasn't half bad. I had a 'chicken' burger. I have no idea what it was actually made of but it tasted pretty good to me. Was good to catch up with her. We met 14 years ago when I first arrived to volunteer at Saddleback. I was fresh off the plane when James asked me to help out at a huge youth event the church held. Tammy and I were both assigned to the photo booth at the event and we've been friends ever since.

So that's what I have been up to so far. Lots of little things to make my day interesting.
A special shout out to my big brother Alan, who is currently in surgery getting his broken leg repaired from a serious fall at work yesterday. Praying for you mate!
Rosie